


A lifetime's worth of seconds.

by loisselina (LoisSelina)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 1x01 AU, Daddy Charming, David is my favourite character, Gen, Multi, Parent Prince Charming | David Nolan, Parent Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Snowing - Freeform, and again im sorry, and yet for some reason I torture him, anyway heres so normal tags, anyway to make it happier y'all get to decide if Emma lives at the end or not, but honestly from the bottom of my heart, honestly I know im a bastard but believe it or not I absolutely love David he's my dad, its called this cause David (and possibly Emma) live for mere seconds, life flashes before his eyes, like if that counts as a happy ending, mama Snow, mentions of Henry - Freeform, my bad - Freeform, or double my bad idk whatever, season 1 AU, so like double sorry, technically I kill him twice, whoops I did it again I played with your heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 22:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoisSelina/pseuds/loisselina
Summary: 1x01 AU.David is stabbed in the nursery after putting Emma into the wardrobe unsure whether or not the wardrobe will even work.





	A lifetime's worth of seconds.

**Author's Note:**

> my bad....

“It’s too late. We can’t move her.”

David watched as his baby girl was born, early and tiny, but otherwise perfect. The curse was far from his eyes and he looked down at her as she was held by Snow.

“The wardrobe…. It only takes one.”

David’s blood ran cold. “Then our plan has failed. At least we’re together.”

“No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe.”

He shook his head trying to catch his breath. “Are you out of your mind?”

“No, it’s the only way. You have to save her.”

“No, no, no. You don’t know what you’re saying.“ There had to be another way. Any other way. He couldn’t lose his baby. His daughter. He couldn’t…

“No, I do. We have to believe that she’ll come back for us. We have to give her her best chance.”

David was torn. Ultimately he knew his wife was right. He kissed her forehead, her little nose crinkled up oblivious to what was going on, then his wife kissed her. He took her from Snow’s hands but knew that Snow could barely force herself to let go.

“Goodbye, Emma…”

David raced out of the room, stopping only to grab his sword, careful not to jostle the baby who was silent in his arms. Snow’s gut wrenching sobs filled the castle but he could not turn back.

He fended off two of the Evil Queen’s knights, one was easy to disperse, the other managed to cut him as he fell.

David’s shoulder and chest was hit by what felt like a massive electric shock, then suddenly heat, as though he had been set on fire, then nothing.

He carried on running down the hallway to Emma’s nursery.

She didn’t cry as he burst through the doors and ran towards the wardrobe, its doors were already open, he was hit by fear that someone else had decided to steal Emma’s chance at salvation, but he had to have faith, his wife would have.

He placed the baby inside of the wardrobe. He quickly adjusted the blanket around her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Find us.” He shut the wardrobe doors hoping, praying, begging it to work.

Pain was starting to fill his chest, more pain than he had ever imagined, he realised he was bleeding pretty bad. But he had to stand guard, he had to protect Emma as best he could, two more knights entered the room.

He raised his sword.

The already injured Prince was stabbed again, this time he fell down, his eyes flickered to the wardrobe before they slipped shut.

 

* * *

  


There was beeping. His hand itched and before he could use his other hand to scratch it his hand was held by someone.

There was a baby’s cry.

He opened his eyes.

“Snow.” _His_ Snow was smiling down at him. Her green eyes sparkling with life as she looked down at him. In her hands was a tiny baby swaddled in a knitted white blanket with purple ribbons. “Emma.” He breathed out. Snow lowered her to show David. She was small but perfect. She was there. She was okay. They all were.

“She’s okay.” Snow swore, her head lowered to kiss him, again and again and again. “The curse is broken, we can be a family now.”

 

The curse had taken them to a strange world which was loaded with magic. Snow showed him to a house which was both of theirs.

It would have been completely alien to him if the curse hadn’t of loaded his mind with all of this information, it had given them the house, a wardrobe of clothes, even jobs. Snow had been a teacher, teaching school age children, but she would be taking time off with the curse breaking and having Emma. He was a cop, kind of like this realms versions of knights.

The got home from the hospital and David held Emma as Snow fussed around the pair of them.

“Your shoulder-”

“It’s fine,” David told her honestly, he stared down at his green eyed princess in awe, “I don’t feel a thing.”

He and Snow both dressed Emma in a little pink onesie, after falling about giggling as they struggled with putting a diaper on their baby, she was wiggling as much as she had when she was first born.

“You want to go on adventures, don’t you, my little princess? Just like Mama and Dada.” He brought her closer to kiss his face and kissed her forehead, she scrunched up her little nose as she did so, he held her so carefully, he would never let her get hurt, not while he was alive and breathing. “But no adventures just yet, my baby, you just stay with Mama and Dada, we’ll look after you and protect you, and we’ll tell you stories of our home, maybe one day we will take you there. And nothing will ever hurt you. Daddy promises.” He swore.

He held her close to him and slowly and carefully walked over to Snow, he placed the baby into her arms before sitting on the couch himself, his wife leant back against him and he watched as she fed their baby.

 

David was up every time Snow was awoken to feed their baby, she told him he needed to rest, but he didn’t care, he was happy to wake up and spend any precious seconds with his girls.

He changed diapers, getting the hang of it, and fed her bottles.

 

They met up with friends in their town, proudly showing off their baby, the family dressed up together for halloween. Their baby grew more with each passing day, she was so curious and took in every word David said to her, and they celebrated Hannukah, and Christmas, as a small family and with their friends.

 

He spent an awful lot of time kissing Snow, and more than that, they had almost lost each other more than once, they knew the value of their love.

 

There was a baby’s cry.

David laughed, he was sure Emma had a sixth sense for when he and Snow were about to… anyway, he reluctantly stopped kissing his wife. “I love you.” He reminded her, it was important she knew that, he wasn’t sure why it was so important for him to tell her that right that second.

 

Unsurprisingly Snow fell pregnant again when Emma was just four months old.

 

Their life went on, David fixed up another nursery, painting murals for his two babies on their walls, conveying the wonders of the world.

Emma started to eat mashed down food, and roll, and crawl, she was soon toddling around, and when she spoke she said “mama” first, despite David pretending to be a sore loser he was beyond proud, and he thought that there was no better first word than his wife’s name.

 

Emma was a daddy’s girl, she hung on his every word, and followed him around, when he got back home from work she would run up to him as fast as her little legs would take her and wrap him in a hug. She would just cling onto him all of the time, he came to nickname her koala, as she resembled one of the bears.

 

There was a baby's cries.

When the new baby, his son Neal, was nearly a year old he quit his job to become a stay at home dad, they didn’t have to worry about money anyway, and he didn’t want to miss this.

 

Regardless the kids grew quickly. David taught him as much as he could, and in return they caused adorable mischief together, more often than not his and Snow’s bed was full with two little visitors.

 

Soon Emma started preschool, then school, as did Neal, and David opened a stables and horse riding school, teaching his children to ride horses as his mother had taught him.

 

There were vacations, and picnics, and trips to the beach, holidays, fireworks, movie nights, new pets, baking, birthdays, school field trips, sex, lots and lots of sex, and sicknesses, nightmares, fights, report cards, groundings, time outs, worry, and every so often his shoulder would hurt. But the good outweighed the bad.

 

Emma began dating as a teen, and his suddenly polished his sword a lot, especially when his daughter would bring home whomever she was dating, and whenever she broke up with her boyfriend or girlfriend he and Snow were there for her. They would cuddle up and tell her and Neal stories of their lives in the Enchanted Forest and assure them that they wouldn’t change their lives one bit, they were happily and safe, and they had the two most precious blessings in the universe right next to them.

 

When Emma told them she was pregnant, as a teenager, there was no question that they would support her. David fixed up a nursery for his grandson with a mural like he had his son and daughter, he made it fit for a prince, and he and Snow spoilt their daughter with everything she could possibly need.

 

There was a baby’s cry.

His grandson, Henry, he was absolutely perfect.

 

Soon the house was full of a child’s laughter once again as Henry grew. Emma travelled to college every day, to make a better life for her son, and David fulfilled his grandpa role of spoiling Henry as he looked after him.

 

Emma graduated the same year as Neal did, Snow and David couldn’t be prouder, their life in the Enchanted Forest could not match up to this perfect one.

 

Neal moved out first, it was bittersweet but he was nearby, visiting often with his boyfriend, often for the baked goods his mother and father both made. Neal’s boyfriend proposed and David cried at his son’s wedding.

 

David watched all of Henry’s firsts, and watched as Emma went on dates, he and Snow quickly realised that these were different than the previous dates she had been on.

 

David walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding to Elsa, Henry served as Emma’s best man, and he cried again.

 

Snow and David grew older, still just as in love with each other as they had been when they had married decades ago, David still could not believe that this was his life.

 

There was a baby’s cry.

This was becoming a only too common sound, with their family around for Friday night dinner, Neal and Philip with their newborn twins, and Emma and Elsa had welcomed a new baby to join Henry. David would play with all of his kids, his age showing as his shoulder twinged when he would throw them into the air, but that was not important right now.

 

There was a baby’s cry.

Soon his grandkids were grown and started to have babies of their own. He and Snow were slower now, more wrinkled, but their love did not slow down.

 

 

“I love you.” David whispered to his wife one night, the two of them cuddled together, he did not have to tell her that, he had shown her it over the past lifetime, but it was essential, she _needed_ to be told right that second.

 

He drifted off, joining his wife in a long, peaceful, sleep.

 

* * *

  
There was a baby's cries.  


Then a sharp laugh.

It was such an effort but he managed to drag his eyes open.

Snow was looking down at him. Knelt clutching at him with one hand. But she wasn’t looking at him her hand was reaching for something else. Someone else. The wardrobe. A black knight reached in and pulled out Emma, still wrapped in her blanket, crying out for her parents.

“You failed.” The Evil Queen sneered.

He heard his baby’s cries for the final time.

Then Prince Charming breathed his last breath.

  


**Author's Note:**

> I know! I know! I already said my bad what more do you want?


End file.
